Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro was born in or near Reate, now known as Rieti in the Lazio region of Italy. He entered a family thought to be of equestrian rank, which provided him with social standing and resources for education. Varro remained close to his roots throughout his life, owning a large farm in the Reatine plain until his old age. This property was located near Lago di Ripasottile, where he spent much of his time managing agricultural affairs.
His political career began with service as tribune of the people, followed by roles as quaestor and curule aedile. Eventually he reached the office of praetor while supporting Pompey during the turbulent years leading up to the First Triumvirate. The formation of that coalition in 60 BC likely cost Varro any chance of rising to consulship. He openly ridiculed the three-man alliance in a work called the Three-Headed Monster, written in Greek according to Appian's account.
Varro participated in Caesar's great agrarian scheme of 59 BC, serving on a commission of twenty tasked with resettling Capua and Campania. His early political activities show a man deeply engaged in public affairs before the civil wars would force him into military command.
During Caesar's civil war spanning from 49 to 45 BC, Marcus Terentius Varro commanded one of Pompey's armies in the Ilerda campaign of 49 BC. After backing the losing side, he escaped penalties through two pardons granted by Julius Caesar, both before and after the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. These clemencies allowed him to continue his life despite having fought against Rome's future dictator.
Julius Caesar appointed Varro to oversee the public library of Rome in 47 BC, placing him in charge of preserving knowledge for the state. However, following Caesar's death, Mark Antony proscribed Varro, resulting in significant property loss including his entire library. This event destroyed much of his personal collection and scattered valuable texts that might have survived otherwise.
As the Republic gave way to the Empire, Varro gained favor under Augustus. Under this emperor's protection, he found security and quiet to devote himself fully to study and writing. The transition from political turmoil to imperial stability allowed him to focus on his scholarly pursuits during his final decades.
Varro decided to identify these nine disciplines as the foundation of all learning. Using his list, which was mediated through Martianus Capella's early-5th century allegory, subsequent writers defined the seven classical liberal arts taught in medieval schools. The most noteworthy portion of the Nine Books remains its systematic approach to categorizing different fields of study.
This organizational framework influenced how scholars structured their own encyclopedic projects for centuries. The work demonstrated that knowledge could be divided into distinct categories while maintaining connections between them. Later generations would adapt Varro's system to fit their own educational needs while preserving the core structure he established.
In his old age, Marcus Terentius Varro wrote on agriculture for his wife Fundania, producing what has been described as a voluminous work called De re rustica. This treatise functioned similarly to Cato the Elder's earlier work on managing large slave-run estates. It represented a well-digested system from an experienced farmer who had practiced everything he recorded.
One notable aspect
of this agricultural manual is Varro's anticipation of modern concepts regarding disease transmission. He warned readers to avoid swamps and marshland because certain minute creatures bred there could not be seen by human eyes. These invisible organisms floated in the air and entered bodies through mouth and nose, causing serious diseases.
Varro's observation about these unseen dangers represents an early form of epidemiological thinking. His warning demonstrates practical knowledge gained from direct experience with farming conditions. Modern scholars recognize this passage as anticipating germ theory by nearly two thousand years. The text survives alongside Cato's agricultural writings in all existing manuscripts.
The chronology gained acceptance largely because it was inscribed on the arch of Augustus in Rome. Although that arch no longer stands today, a large portion of the timeline has survived under the name Fasti Capitolini. Scholars continue to reference this system when discussing dates in Republican history despite its acknowledged inaccuracies.
Varro's approach to dating events represented a systematic
effort to bring order to Roman historical records. His method combined official consular lists with additional data points to create a continuous narrative. The resulting framework provided future historians with a consistent way to organize events across centuries of Roman development.
Six books out of twenty-five survive from this massive work, though they remain partly mutilated by time. Most extant fragments can be found in editions compiled by Goetz, Schoell, Wilmanns, and Funaioli. These collections preserve interpretations of rare words and principles governing word formation and usage.
Varro examined both regularity and irregularity in language, addressing topics like orthography and poetic meters. His work on De Utilitate Sermonis explored the principle of anomaly while other sections dealt with regular forms. This dual approach allowed him to capture the full complexity of Latin grammar as it existed during the late Republic period.
Only one complete work survives from Marcus Terentius Varro's prolific output, yet many fragments exist thanks to later scholars who preserved them. The
oldest existing manuscript is Codex Parisinus 6842, written in Italy before the end of the 12th century. All manuscripts of Cato's agricultural treatise include copies of Varro's De re rustica, ensuring its survival alongside another important farming manual.
Scholars J.G. Schneider and Heinrich Keil demonstrated that surviving texts descend directly or indirectly from a long-lost manuscript called the Marcianus. This copy once resided in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice and was described by Petrus Victorinus as liber antiquissimus et fidelissimus. Angelo Politian's collation of the Marcianus against his first printing remains an important witness for the text.
The editio princeps appeared at Venice in 1472, marking the beginning of printed transmission for Varro's works. Modern editions continue to rely on these ancient sources when reconstructing lost portions of his writings. Bertha Tilly assessed Varro's contribution as towering above all contemporaries due to his immense mass of completed work and patriotic fervor.
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Common questions
Where was Marcus Terentius Varro born and what property did he own?
Marcus Terentius Varro was born in or near Reate, now known as Rieti in the Lazio region of Italy. He owned a large farm in the Reatine plain located near Lago di Ripasottile until his old age.
When did Marcus Terentius Varro serve as praetor and which political alliance opposed him?
Marcus Terentius Varro reached the office of praetor while supporting Pompey during the turbulent years leading up to the First Triumvirate. The formation of that coalition in 60 BC likely cost Varro any chance of rising to consulship.
How many books by Marcus Terentius Varro survive today and when was the oldest manuscript written?
Six books out of twenty-five survive from this massive work though they remain partly mutilated by time. The oldest existing manuscript is Codex Parisinus 6842 written in Italy before the end of the 12th century.
What agricultural warning did Marcus Terentius Varro make about disease transmission?
Marcus Terentius Varro warned readers to avoid swamps and marshland because certain minute creatures bred there could not be seen by human eyes. These invisible organisms floated in the air and entered bodies through mouth and nose causing serious diseases.
Who appointed Marcus Terentius Varro to oversee the public library of Rome and what happened after Caesar's death?
Julius Caesar appointed Varro to oversee the public library of Rome in 47 BC placing him in charge of preserving knowledge for the state. Following Caesar's death Mark Antony proscribed Varro resulting in significant property loss including his entire library.
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